The veteran free agency signing missed the first four days of training camp due to an undisclosed injury.
The New England Patriots have enjoyed some solid attendance early in training camp, with a vast majority of the roster able to participate fully in practice. In fact, only five players have yet to make an appearance, including Mack Hollins.
The wide receiver remains on the physically unable to perform list heading into Week 2 of camp — alongside offensive tackle Vederian Lowe and tight end Austin Hooper — because of an undisclosed ailment. Nonetheless, Hollins has stayed actively involved with the team as head coach Mike Vrabel recently explained.
“He’s working extremely hard. He’s a player that I think he’s stayed engaged,” Vrabel said.
“When you’re on these lists, you can’t even do the walkthroughs, so he has to be in the meetings, and then he kind of works out on a separate field, and then he can’t even be engaged in the walkthroughs. So, he just has to watch and be able to process the information. But he’s a pro, and he spends a lot of time here. I’ve seen him mentoring and working with the younger guys as well.”
Hollins, 31, joined the Patriots earlier this offseason via a two-year, $8.4 million free agency deal. A veteran of eight NFL seasons who most recently spent time with the Buffalo Bills, he was projected to compete for a roster spot as an outside wide receiver.
So far, Hollins has not been able to due that. A a consequence, Vrabel is not yet willing to assess his performance or project what his role is eventually going to look like.
“We’ll just evaluate him when he’s out there,” He said. “I can evaluate the person, I can evaluate his character off the field, the way that he works in the weight room, the way that he carries himself in the meetings, around the building and in his interactions with everybody in the building.
“But right now, anything [beyond] that would be speculation on the field. So, when he’s out there, then we’ll be able to evaluate him as a player.”
The Patriots will kick off the second week of training camp on Monday with their first full-pads session. Practice is set to begin at 10:30 a.m. ET.